Imported from sidneyswift/consulting-plugin (skills/consulting-hyperframes-video/modes/product-launch-video/SKILL.md). Install upstream with npx skills add sidneyswift/consulting-plugin --skill product-launch-video. Copyright stays with the author.

Product Launch to HyperFrames

Use this skill to capture a product, understand its brand, plan a launch video, and build it frame by frame in HyperFrames.

Confirm the route before Step 0. You are the orchestrator. Run each step, verify its gate, and only then continue to the next step. This skill is for a product being marketed, launched, promoted, or revealed, including requests such as "promo for our site" when the purpose is promotional. Route other intents elsewhere: a general non-launch website tour -> /website-to-video; a topic explainer with no product -> /faceless-explainer; a GitHub PR -> /pr-to-video; captions on existing footage -> /embedded-captions; a short unnarrated motion graphic -> /motion-graphics. If the user says only "make a video" or the route is uncertain, read /hyperframes first.

You are the orchestrator. Work in videos/<project>/. Run steps in order and pass each gate before continuing. User-gated steps are Step 0, Step 3, and Step 6. Do every step yourself except Step 5, where you dispatch one sub-agent per frame. Do not put design or motion rules here; those live in the frame-worker sub-agent, hyperframes-creative, and hyperframes-animation.

Workflow: Step 0 setup -> hyperframes.json; Step 1 capture -> capture/; Step 2 design system -> frame.md; Step 3 storyboard/script -> STORYBOARD.md and SCRIPT.md; Step 3.1 audio -> audio_meta.json; Step 4 visual design -> enriched STORYBOARD.md; Step 5 frames -> compositions/frames/NN-*.html and index.html; Step 6 final render -> renders/video.mp4.

Step 0: Setup and Brief

Goal: Lock the core video brief and create the HyperFrames project if needed.

Initialize only if hyperframes.json is missing. Name <project> from the brand or domain in kebab-case, such as acme-promo; never use workspace name or timestamp.

npx hyperframes init "videos/<project>" --non-interactive --skip-skills --example=blank

Gate: hyperframes.json exists, and angle, length, aspect ratio, and language are locked.

Step 1: Capture assets

Goal: Collect the source material, brand signals, and usable assets for the video.

Classify the input and choose the path. Explicit URL -> capture it and use the site for narration and assets. Pasted script/brief -> save verbatim as user_script.txt, ask once "use it verbatim or restructure?", store answer as VO_MODE, then resolve capture target: URL in text -> use it; brand name only -> WebSearch, confirm URL in one line, then crawl; no URL/site -> no-capture path.

Run capture with: npx hyperframes capture "<URL>" -o ./capture

If GEMINI_API_KEY, GOOGLE_API_KEY, or an OpenRouter key exists, capture auto-captions assets into capture/extracted/asset-descriptions.md. This is not a review gate. Without a vision key, use DOM context and continue.

No-capture path: create capture/extracted/tokens.json, capture/extracted/visible-text.txt, capture/extracted/asset-descriptions.md, and capture/assets/ by hand. tokens.json should be { "title": "", "description": "", "colors": [], "fonts": [] }; fill title/description from the brief when possible. visible-text.txt contains the full brief or script. asset-descriptions.md should say no assets were captured unless the user gave asset notes.

Gate: capture/extracted/tokens.json, capture/extracted/visible-text.txt, capture/extracted/asset-descriptions.md, and capture/assets/ exist; you can state the brand in one clear sentence. Treat asset-descriptions.md as the main asset inventory. If it is missing after real capture, stop and report capture incomplete. If capture/BLOCKED.md exists, follow it.

Step 2: Design System

Goal: Choose one shipped frame preset; a script turns it into this video's frame.md + caption skin.

You make the one judgment call — which preset. Read ../hyperframes-creative/references/design-spec.md and pick the preset whose look best fits the brand and brief. Then run:

node <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/build-frame.mjs --preset <name> --hyperframes .

The script does the rest deterministically: copies the preset's FRAME.md → frame.md and remixes it onto the brand tokens in capture/extracted/tokens.json (brand colors mapped onto the preset's color keys by role — ink, canvas, accents — keeping keys/structure/components; the preset's display + body fonts swapped for the brand's), copies the preset's caption-skin.html verbatim, and self-validates (exits 1 on a broken mapping). Proceed to the next step as soon as it exits 0 — no hand-editing of the spec.

tokens.json with no brand colors/fonts (e.g. no capture) → the script keeps the preset's own palette, a complete shippable design. If the brief names brand colors/fonts the capture missed, add them to capture/extracted/tokens.json before running (or use the user's design.md to populate it); only adjust frame.md by hand afterward if a mapping truly needs it.

Gate: build-frame.mjs exited 0 — frame.md exists from a named preset, and (when the preset ships one) caption-skin.html is at the project root.

Step 3: Storyboard and Script

Goal: Turn the brief and captured material into an approved frame-by-frame story plan.

Read references/story-design.md, ../hyperframes-core/references/storyboard-format.md, and ../hyperframes-core/references/script-format.md. Use them to write STORYBOARD.md and, when narration is needed, SCRIPT.md.

Use story-design.md for story archetype, hook, persuasion logic, beats, VO_MODE, and asset choices. Choose each visual frame's asset_candidates from capture/extracted/asset-descriptions.md (the canonical inventory) — don't browse raw capture/assets/. Do not ask the user to pick assets unless that inventory is missing or unusable. Use the exact required fields from the storyboard and script references.

After drafting, show a frame-by-frame summary. In that same message ask the user two things: (a) to approve or request changes, and (b) whether they want a live preview of the storyboard scaffold (npx hyperframes preview) — open it only on a yes. Iterate until approved, and carry the preview choice to Step 6.

Gate: STORYBOARD.md exists, every visual frame has asset_candidates, SCRIPT.md exists when narration is needed, and the user approved the frame-by-frame plan.

Step 3.1: Audio

Goal: Generate narration, word timings, music, and audio metadata from the approved script.

Start audio after Step 3 approval. Run it in the background, then continue to Step 4.

node <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/audio.mjs --script ./SCRIPT.md --storyboard ./STORYBOARD.md --hyperframes . --out ./audio_meta.json &

The audio script handles narration, word timings, BGM lookup from HeyGen's music library, and timing metadata. BGM mood comes from the storyboard's music: field. This uses the HeyGen Audio API for retrieval, not generation, and uses the same ~/.heygen credential as TTS. For provider details, read ../hyperframes-media/references/tts.md.

If there is no narration and no SCRIPT.md, skip voice generation. BGM may still run if the storyboard has a music mood.

Gate: audio job has started, or the project is marked silent.

Step 4: Frame Visual Design

Goal: Add the visual direction, layout intent, and motion choices to each storyboard frame.

Edit STORYBOARD.md in place. Do not create another storyboard. Use frame.md as source of truth for color, type, layout feel, and style.

Read references/visual-design.md, references/composition.md, references/motion-language.md, and ../hyperframes-animation/. Use visual-design.md for required frame fields and the required ## Video direction block. Use composition.md for layout, hierarchy, focal points, and visual roles. Use motion-language.md and ../hyperframes-animation/ for valid effects and blueprint IDs. Do not invent effect names or blueprint IDs.

For every visual frame, add required visual and motion fields, including effects and focal and/or roles. Add one video-wide ## Video direction block for overall visual direction, motion style, pacing, and design rules.

Do not change story, script, asset choices, asset_candidates, transition_in, or captured source material. Do not write HTML in this step.

Stage named assets after visual design is locked:

node <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/stage-assets.mjs --storyboard ./STORYBOARD.md --hyperframes .

Gate: every visual frame has effects plus focal and/or roles; ## Video direction exists; assets/ contains the named assets.

Step 5: Build Frames

Goal: Build every storyboard frame as an HTML composition and assemble the playable video.

Wait for Step 3.1 audio to finish if audio was started. Then sync durations and fetch SFX; skip both if silent.

node <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/audio.mjs sync-durations --audio-meta ./audio_meta.json --storyboard ./STORYBOARD.md

node <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/audio.mjs fetch-sfx --storyboard ./STORYBOARD.md --hyperframes .

Duration sync is mechanical: real voice duration wins; silent frames keep estimates; never hand-edit synced durations.

Before dispatch, read sub-agents/frame-worker.md and ../hyperframes-core/references/subagent-dispatch.md. Dispatch one sub-agent per frame, in parallel if possible; otherwise run workers in waves. Each worker gets exactly one frame.

Each worker context must include PROJECT_DIR, frame_id, canvas size, caption status and keep-out band if captions are enabled, and ANIM_DIR as the absolute path to ../hyperframes-animation/. Each worker reads frame.md, its own ## Frame N block from STORYBOARD.md, and the recipe body for each cited effect or blueprint ID. Each worker writes only compositions/frames/NN-*.html. Workers must never edit STORYBOARD.md.

As each worker returns, the orchestrator marks that frame as animated in STORYBOARD.md.

After audio timings exist, build captions in the background and assemble the index:

node <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/captions.mjs build --storyboard ./STORYBOARD.md --audio-meta ./audio_meta.json --hyperframes . --out ./caption_groups.json &

node <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/assemble-index.mjs --storyboard ./STORYBOARD.md --hyperframes .

captions.mjs uses the project's caption-skin.html (copied in Step 2) as the caption look, injecting brand tokens from frame.md; with no skin present it renders the built-in default pill. captions: skipped (<reason>) is valid. Continue without captions when explicitly skipped.

Gate: every frame is marked animated, index.html exists, and captions are built or explicitly skipped.

Step 6: Finalize

Goal: Verify the assembled video, get user approval, and render the final MP4.

Inject transitions, run checks, pause for review, then render.

node <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/transitions.mjs inject --storyboard ./STORYBOARD.md --hyperframes .

node <SKILL_DIR>/scripts/transitions.mjs verify --storyboard ./STORYBOARD.md --index ./index.html

npx hyperframes lint

npx hyperframes validate

npx hyperframes inspect

npx hyperframes snapshot --at <frame-midpoints>

If a command fails, surface stderr and stop. Do not pile on recovery commands. If a gate names a frame, fix compositions/frames/NN-*.html with the cheapest safe fix: edit the frame HTML for a local issue; re-dispatch the frame worker only when the whole shot must be rebuilt.

Known false-positive — do not chase it. inspect may report a handful of text_box_overflow errors of ~1–4px on the caption highlight words (selector #caption-word-* / .caption-line). The caption pill uses a deliberately snug line-height (set once in scripts/captions.mjs) and has no overflow:hidden, so a heavy display glyph's ink spills a few px into the pill's own padding — nothing is actually clipped. Treat these as expected and proceed. Do not inflate the caption line-height (it balloons the pill, which is worse) and do not re-dispatch a frame for them. Only act on a text_box_overflow when it names a frame element (#el-NN-*), not a caption word.

After checks pass, pause for user review. The video is assembled, viewable, and editable in Studio. Manage preview only once across Step 3 and Step 6: open it if the user asked earlier, offer it if they declined earlier, and do not ask again if they are already reviewing in Studio.

Preview: npx hyperframes preview

Render only after user approval:

npx hyperframes render --quality high --output renders/video.mp4

Do not rerun lint, validate, inspect, or snapshot after rendering unless the user asks.

Gate: lint, validate, and inspect passed before render; user approved at the review pause; renders/video.mp4 exists. Final reply states MP4 path and final duration.

Quick Reference

Formats: landscape 1920x1080 by default; portrait 1080x1920; square 1080x1080. Set the format once in the storyboard frontmatter.

Background scripts: the workflow ships only these scripts under scripts/: build-frame for adopting + brand-remixing a frame preset into frame.md (+ caption skin); audio for TTS, transcription, BGM, SFX, and duration syncing; captions; transitions for inject and verify; stage-assets for copying frame-named assets into assets/; and assemble-index. Everything else is handled by the hyperframes CLI.